some words and thinking we've already done on complexity

In working with complexity, I have found it very useful to share frameworks with clients who are struggling to understand the nature of the kinds of problems that they are facing. One of the frameworks that has been most useful to me over the past ten years or so has been the Cynefin framework, developed by Dave Snowden and colleagues. Cynefin was originally designed as a way of helping leaders make decisions, and I still use it that way today. It helps us to see the nature of the problems we are confronting and to make good strategic decisions that acknowledge whether a problems is solvable or note.

The original paper by Dave Snowden and Mary Boone remains a great starting point for introducing leaders to Cynefin as a framework and I still share this paper with clients to this day. One of the challenges though is how to make the framework accessible and understandable to leaders so that a team or organization can quickly grasp the usefulness of this way of working.

During our workshops we will cover the Cynefin framework, and whether or not it is already familiar to you, we'll explore ways to make it easier and more active to work with. We'll go over a couple of methods of understanding and sharing Cynefin and engage in peer conversations about how participants are already using it to make sense of the complex challenges we face. Personally I'm looking forward to these conversations, as I'm always on the hunt for another way to make good theory practical and useful.